It’s the morning after and I’m still trying to grapple with what I watched Saturday night, as the Los Angeles Lakes beat the Sacramento Kings 131-127. Not because I can’t fathom the Kings losing in such a terrible way, but because I can’t fathom how it’s a new season as we’re still watching the Kings lose in such terrible ways. Overall, the Kings played a very good game. It was fun, the defense was active, the Kings were attacking and drawing fouls, the Kings racked up fast break points, these are the things we would have been celebrating. But it was all undone because of the beginning of the fourth quarter, where for several minutes the Kings completely fell apart.
We’ve seen the Kings do this many times now. An otherwise good game undone by one very bad stretch. In the Minnesota loss, it was the end of the third quarter. This game it was the start of the fourth. Making this game even worse, it wasn’t a stretch where the Kings were beaten by a cohesive pulling-together by the Lakers. No, they were wrecked by almost entirely by one man. To start the 4th quarter the Lakers scored 21 straight points while the Sacramento Kings scored 0. LeBron scored 16 of the Lakers 21, including 11 straight at one point. It was an incredible feat by LeBron, and an incredible feat of ineptitude by the Kings.
There was a time we could simply chalk it up to that. “Oh man, LeBron simply was incredible, what else can you do?” But this one felt so much worse than that. During that stretch we saw both De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan (among others) badly miss shots. The offense was rushed and discombobulated. The defense disappeared. It was like the entire team forgot how they had been playing for the prior 36 minutes. They saw LeBron make a couple shots and went into panic mode. Domantas Sabonis, who had been playing incredible, was on the bench for much of the run. Trey Lyles and Alex Len were on the floor together, and looked pretty terrible.
The other reason this feels so disheartening is that it underscores just how badly the Kings front office has failed to address known issues. I know Monte McNair and crew are aware of these issues. We saw these issues all last season. The Kings did not have the size to match bigger teams. They still don’t. Sabonis did a marvelous job matching up against Anthony Davis, and Keegan Murray was playing solid defense throughout the game, but if either of those guys needs a breather or gets in foul trouble, the Kings are cooked. Maybe Orlando Robinson is the magical salve that could have slowed LeBron during that run, but I doubt it. The problem remains the same, the answer wasn’t on the roster last season, and still isn’t this season.
A final note that warrants discussion: Keon Ellis received a DNP-CD, and I would really like to be able to tell you why. Granted, Kevin Huerter was playing really well last night. It was a joy to see him taking and making threes with confidence. And despite his defensive limitations, he was engaged and working hard on the defensive end. But the confusion is that Mike Brown is continuing to play an extremely tight rotation. Domas and DeMar played 37 minutes each, Keegan played 40, Fox played 41, and Huerter played 26. For the bench unit, Monk played 28, Lyles played 19, Alex Len played 9, and Jordan McLaughlin (who was a DNP the prior game) played just 3 minutes. Brown spoke after the Minnesota game about not having figured out his rotation, and he clearly still hasn’t. But I really question the logic of benching one of the team’s few good defenders.
Individual Accolades
Domantas Sabonis – Domas was great, finishing with 29 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. He went right at Anthony Davis all game, and battled AD hard on defense as well
De’Aaron Fox – Despite a few bad misses, Fox finished with 28 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. He was part of the problem in the 4th quarter meltdown, but overall had a very good game.
Kevin Huerter – I mentioned him earlier, but Huerter had one of the best games I can remember from him in a long time. 14 points, 4/7 from deep, and active all over the place. Welcome back, Red Velvet
LeBron James – 32 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 block. Any decade now this guy is going to start to slow down.
Anthony Davis – 31 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks. AD has started this season like a man on a mission. Sabonis played him really well, and Davis still ended up with a monster stat line.
Up Next
The Kings will hope to get their season back on track when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. The Kings have a softer stretch of the schedule now, with a slate of Portland, Utah, Atlanta, Toronto, Miami, Toronto, and the Clippers. But given how the Kings have struggled to beat “worse” teams in recent years, no Kings fan is going into these games with confidence. Time to step up, Kings.
There was a general consensus that the Kings couldn’t run it back again with the same players. With the exception of adding Derozan, and subtracting Mitchell and Barnes, the Kings didn’t really add any significant talent.
If Monte doesn’t find another Sabonis-level move this season, I’m guessing it will (should) be his last.
worst take ever lol
He’s done a good job at getting us into contention for a play-in, but hasn’t done anything to improve the roster beyond that point. A roster he’s built and seems to be content with. I’d eventually like to see a team put together that can at least win a playoff series, and this year’s edition once again still doesn’t look to be more than a play-in contender. At some point, you have to cut bait and go a different route.
you would absolutely cut bait with MB before Monte.
Content with? He just added a 6x all star lol
That consensus evaporated the moment we brought in the best free agent acquisition ever. Everyone was high fiving each other, suddenly the consensus shifted towards our stagnant 4th quater offense being the main issue and the issues regarding fit and addressing the previous consensus problems were waived away, including by most TKH writers.
We got to hear how we would be unguardable, how former COY Brown would make it all work, how talent trumps all (and DDR is indeed a better talent than Barnes) and also how Keegan coudl guard the opponents best wing and DDR can hidden on the other guy (because, yeah, he’s a bit slow for the speedier SG’s). Positionless basketball, baby! And the national m,edia are just haters.
Most of that can still come to fruition. It is still early. Som egrowing pains are to be expected.
But some things remain true. We are undersized and relatively unathletic. Our defense is not good, our perimeter defense extremely worrying and the fit of DDR still poses significant questionmarks.
TKH writers have done a much better job than the commenters looking at a basketball team as a basketball team.
Brown had a super tight rotation last night with basically his 7 core players. The only difference from last year is DDR or Barnes. If the plan is to run it back with just that change, I’m not sure it moves the needle all that much from a 45ish win season.
Adding more points from DDR instead of Barnes isn’t going to matter if you give up 130 on most nights. The only team to give up more points so far the season (small sample size, but a trend that’s continued since preseason) are the Jazz and Wizards. Not good company.
The personnel on the team say pretty clearly that’s the plan. DeRozan is clearly talented and a respected name around the league, and the name part seems to be a Vivek priority, but I would agree that this team is only marginally better than the last one, with a slightly higher ceiling and the same floor.
The offseason feels to me like punting this season, just like last season did when they didn’t make any changes.
Agreed. I also honestly don’t know how they improve. If the miss the playoffs, someone should get fired. If they make the playoffs, they lose their pick to ATL and go into the offseason capped out with Keegan and Fox’s extension looming. Do they roll it back with an even older DDR?
I don’t think they have the assets outside of their core to make any meaningful moves. Maybe some combo of Huerter, Lyles, Carrer etc, gets you a difference maker, but I just don’t see it. If they are first round and out (or worse) it may mean moving on fromm Fox and/or Sabonis.
At some point if the writing is on the wall that the ceiling is a 6th or 7th seed with a fingers crossed approach of making the second round, don’t you have to end it?
If they miss the playoffs, they should trade Fox and do a total rebuild, IMO.
You can’t go into into the next season with all the questionmark pressure of Fox staying or not. Recoup what you can and push the reset button.
But again, the season is still young.
Yeah, I agree with you. We are a long ways from that scenario, but if they miss the playoffs, it may have to be the move the team needs. OKC did it, Utah did it, PDX did it, and now Brooklyn has done it.
We should never be that far from moving Fox. He is not the one to bring this team to the promise land. If he can get that player in return do it now.
Ridiculous that Keon catches a DNP…Brown is such a horrid coach with rotations
MM refuses to address the obvious (length and lack of athleticism and a big to help space the floor next to Domas).
That’s why I was never excited about DDR, he doesn’t solve the issues this roster has.
Plus, 2 of your 3 best players have notoriously underpeformed in the playoffs their whole careers (their games don’t translate to the playoffs), so even if we get to the playoffs, the team isn’t doing anything.
Adding DeRozan is adding plenty of talent, but he basically duplicates what the Kings already have with Monk and Fox and doesn’t address any of the team’s weaknesses.
Summed up nicely. But MM doesn’t get it.
You know who does, Keon, you know who catches DNPs, Keon…MB is a massive problem on this team, he is our Mark Jackson
With a clear weakness on defense it would seem Ellis should have a role . Also, seems that DeMar has improved the offense and weakened the defense . Still 80 games to go .
Whatever your opinion may be on Ellis and his role, to go from the starting spot for the last 20 games last year and all through pre-season, to a DNP/CD is…bizarre.
I’ve always liked Coach Brown, but I am now struggling to wrap my head around his rotations and play calling. For a guy who tends to be quick triggered with his timeouts, including using them early in a game, the start of the 4th quarter felt like the team was rudderless. That’s on the coaching.
Quick recap of that 4th quarter sequence. The Lakers went on 14-0 run for over 2 minutes before Brown called a timeout. Brown then pulled Keegan, Fox, and Len in favor of Monk, Lyles and Sabonis. (because you know…defense) The Lakers continue on a 7-0 run for another 1:30 before Brown puts Keegan and Fox back in. The Kings don’t score until the 7:43 mark on a running 3pt shot by Fox. Nearly 5 minutes of shit basketball, odd rotations, and near zero defense.
I think not playing Ellis is a statement Brown is making to the King’s brass – “Get me some players who can play, and I will play them.” – and possibly views Keon as someone who should be way further down on the roster depth chart.
If there is that kind of disconnect between the coach and GM, then the team is in trouble.
I think the problem is above the level of the coach and GM, who’s hands are tied by poor asset management and player acquisition policies (thank cash considerations and Barnes albatross contract, to name a couple). Unless Vivek Ranadive can grow a pair and replace the source of poor asset management – the COO of 27 years Matina Kolokotronis – the baffling front office policies will continue. She has utterly failed and needs to step down. Whats left to consider? Is the team secretly built as a small-market failure as part of some Greek mafia/Vegas strategy to keep the Kings sucking- thats somehow still connected to the Maloofs? (yes, I realize this is ludicrous and I’m really reaching here). Seriously, whats left to assume after a Score of failure?
20 seasons and running for a team that has not made the playoffs…and a $3.7 billion ownership group that is absent any critical self-analysis of how to restructure a winning team…hire outside consultants to weed out the problem?
I’d argue McNair is responsible for bad assessment. We’re regularly giving away draft picks to fix our own mistakes: Holmes, Barnes, Mitchel/Vezenkov.
Or giving away players to fix them: Haliburton for Sabonis because we drafted Mitchell instead of Segun.
It doesn’t seem that McNair’s hands are tied at all, it simply seems that he’s just not very good at his job, and severely lacking in his talent evaluation.
Monte really has given up quite a bit of draft capital for a team that still projects to be a first round exit. There was a first for Huerter, pick swap and Barnes for DDR, and countless 2nd round picks to dump guys that he himself signed.
A bit of a tangent, but when was the last time the Kings acquired a first round pick? Was it when Vlade traded Marco Belinelli for the #22 in 2016? That was during a draft, I believe, but I honestly can’t recall the Kings getting a future pick in recent memory. The DMC trade?
I’d retort then that at least one hand seems to be tied by the GM since the Vivek years started in 2013. He hired the Michael Malone as the head coach, then Pete D’Alessandro as the GM. Then there was the odd asset management period of Vlade “I had a better deal yesterday” Divac. Fast forward to now and there still seems to be a hidden hand at work which the gatekeepers aren’t revealing. No, the results of his decisions don’t fall squarely on his shoulders, and the evidence is insurmountable.
Everyone on Earth was talking about the Kings needing a power forward or at least another big. I cannot imagine that Monte did not try some deals for that player.
Why didn’t they happen?
Vivek?
By far the most talented team we have had in 20 years…talent isn’t the problem, it’s coaching
Yup. The owner is till a question-therefore the talent acquisition is a question etc.
Again, it’s early but this team is already showing its flaws-that haven’t been addressed- and already weird happenings w Ellis.
This is not what a good organization looks like-yet. Have some talent but totally mismatched.
And Heurter is terrible on D. Him
playing well barely has an impact.
Don’t like the start. Doesn’t feel
right
Feels the same0 same0 to me also. We have 75% of the talent to contend for a championship. Monty needs to get us the other 25%.
We are already in trouble.
Is Ellis Monte’s shining star?
I don’t think Monte is putting his career on Ellis. He did good getting him. He is an average NBA shooting guard we picked up for nothing. He is not the superstar Brown is ignoring.
He is our best (only?) 3 and d player for a team that desperately needs a 3 and d player…Keon catching dnp while Huerter a minus 29
Brown had high praise for Kein last season when he was playing well and the defense improved. But I d int know what happened these past 2 games.
It sure seems to me he either doesn’t like him or doesn’t trust him. Or both.
Kein was playing because Huerter was injured and Brown had no choice at the moment. He said Keon was good. Huerter is back now. Nothing has changed.
Ellis is a player that can play, and he has proved it…Brown is atrocious with sticking to “his” guys and not the best guys
Derosan is and was a good addition to this team but Monty can’t stop there. This team needs a PF who plays defense and rebounds and for heavens sake protect the weak side rim. Sabonis was playing on the perimeter too much last night and only Keegan could help on the weak side. We need another big who plays with a motor and do the things we don’t have right now.
If Brown isn’t going to play Ellis then do what is right for him and trade him. He has value and should be playing if not somewhere else.Huerter and Lyles both have some value. It might be wise to trade both for say a John Collins but I’m sorry but I know I can’t stop harpping about Tari Eason. With some good trading ( it would cost you a first but worth it) you could get Jae Sean Tate also. Tari Eason is not starting or playing a lot right now. Could happen.
My NBA League Pass has me clipping channels like Wack-A-Mole player and I’ve wstched a good many snippets of Jazz basketball.
We Kings will have an extended look on Tuesday as Mike Brown’s club heads to the SLC. My fan level accumen has been unimpressed with John Collins, particularly at his $20M salary. Personally, I like Trey Lyles as much on the court and more on the payroll.
Just my opinion, but if the Question is: Help? Collins is not the answer.
Collins is a wasted deal. Lyles is the same.
Ellis was starting last year because Huerter was injured. Huerter is now healthy. Nothing about Brown or Ellis has changed.
Too early to panic. Some good, some bad, nothing really unexpected. Minnesota is damn good (maybe 1 seed good?) and the Lakers are early season trouble with healthy AD and Lebron. If the Kings play like they have these last 2 games, I could see a run versus this soft schedule. Hope. You can be Red or you can be Andy…you choose.
The Kings if they are what they think they are could and should win the next 6 or 7 games. I am ready to find out. In the meantime Monty get us some help please.
We are headed straight for a .500 team that loses to any decent team and will be desperate for a play in spot.
This shot sort of symbolizes the fourth quarter to me: the lack of aggression, the hesitancy, just soft.
[video src="https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2024/10/26/0022400096/559/08e3fc69-fb28-b095-3136-69b46fae1270_1280x720.mp4" /]
I believe, mostly to keep myself sane, that Huerter over Ellis is an attempt to showcase Huerter as healthy and back to being a steady shooter.
There are many flaws in this plan.
A) Huerter may not be either of those things any more.
B) We can’t afford lose games while attempting to do this.
I see many who believe that the season is slipping away and the teams’ flaws are dense and obvious.
I don’t agree. The offense is percolating nicely. Those who are counted on to score, are scoring. (Ox, Fox, Deebo at 26.5/24.5/21.5 – Keegan 18.5/Monk 15.5) and is at 121/game
The defense, has not corralled anyone – not these first 2 previous playoff teams – they are at 124/game. Though the active hands and steals, the react and zone defenses we are seeing look better to my eye- but appear more visible in first half of play.
So where’s the big problem? Is it getting stops? Well, always- the better teams, including Sac, can all score the ball and have the stars do so. Is it closing games? I hope not with Clutch point leaders De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan on board.
I agree Sac can be undersized – the TWolves are perhaps the biggest NBA team but the Lakers aren’t particularly so: yet the Kings got out rebounded terribly. And it was the frontcourt that downed Sacramento last night – future HoFers LBJ amd AD bested Sac. Maybe the stars just shined too bright. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I dunno. It’s two games – every team is a challenge and every loss is the worst loss.
Tomorrow night is the Blazers – they’re young and athletic! The next night is away to Utah – SEGABABA! Oh no!
As the Great Jerry Reynolds oft reminds us – The NBA season is a marathon not a sprint.
I am not ready to fire the Coach – cursed by his unanimous CoY honors or not, or the GM despite his now dusty Ex of the Year award, Not ready to blow up the team, trade away draft picks, or start studying lottery odds (Race for Ace, Drag for Flagg). Let’s see more (20?) games go by.
Beam is gonna light, spark needs to catch is all.
Well said Up. I think the Kings have played ok, not great, and two good teams beat them. The only way the Lakers win last night is LeBron going off.
Two things I love: Keegan looks terrific, and Domas seems like he is looking to score more (I also thought he played terrific defense last night).
Things I like: Kevin looks good, it is easy to see how Deebo fits into the offense, and those couple of times everything was clicking, you can see how this team could look. There a lot of guys who can pop off and win a quarter, and I liked the aggressive handsiness last night.
Things that are meh: The Keon situation. There is a reason he isn’t playing. Maybe MB is KZ Okpala-ing to start the season and he wants to see Kevin the starters for a stretch. Maybe something is happening in practice with Keon that we are not privy to. It has been two games. Keon wasn’t going to guard AD or Bron last night.
I am pretty meh on the MB criticism as well. I wrote at length after last season about MB, and I think he is a good coach, not a great one. I thought he was outcoached a bit last night, but again, it is two games and I can’t find anything in those two close losses agains good teams that feels predictive to what this season will be like.
I certainly think the Kings will finish above the Lakers. They are spending 30m on Russell and Vincent? Yikes. D’Angelo is just not a serious player. He makes Jordan Poole look locked in.
I do think they will click very soon, you don’t have to squint too hard to see them putting up some amazing offensive numbers, and just overwhelming some teams. I predicted 50 wins (as I do not think the West is as stacked as most seem to), and I still think that is where they end up.
Like all predictions – you are either genius or idiot.
I am with you though, so you won’t be alone (significant injuries excepted, of course).
The coaching, IMO, is at least adequate, and the best in this town since HoF-er Rick Adelman. Surely MB and staff are addressing the obvious deficiencies, adjustments must be made, and will be made.IMO – another piece would be nice, but is not necessary tomorrow.
Deebo is an upgrade from HBb40 there is no debate. Ox is more a scorer and his assist totals should go down as he looks to score, something we haven’t seen him do these past two seasons. Keegsn is ballin’ – mid-range creating, less tentative shooting the 3. Next will be creating even more, including the 3 and he’ll be even closer to that PG13/Middleton player we dream of.
I also see a more thoughtful De’Aaron Fox who is looking to involve teammates instead of just focusing on taking a shot.
The biggest unanswered question for this team thus far is: Is the bench deep or not? Alex Len is unchanged, I’ll give you that. But Keon or Huerter, Lyles, Jordan McLaughlin, McDermott? Is Orlando Robinson another Chimezie – less or more? We haven’t seen enough bench to see value or need.
That’s a two game analysis – it’s me doing hot take city. Apologies.
Everyone finds a way to lose – how are the Kings going to find ways to win? I think we’ll know more after 20 games – whether they are 18-2 or 2-18.
If we keep scoring 120 and tweak a few things we will win. Not a contender, but we will win.
I know Monte McNair and crew are aware of these issues.
How do you know that? When it comes to fixing them, is it can’t, won’t, or don’t know how?
Monte has discussed these things in his press conferences.
Bro. You are the GOAT. You know exactly when to speak and your silence speaks volumes. Keep it up.
Keep Monte, Sabonis, Keon, Keegan, Devin
My opinion on Brown’s lineup decision is that he is keeping it simple trying to get it to gel. Derozan is new and brings a whole new twist to things. Huerter was playing good basketball last night. I think the obvious choice for Brown is to get the offense going because that is the strong point of this team. Once he gets Huerter, Derozan, Fox, Sabonis, Keegan, Monk, and Lyles going he can add to it. We can only hope it goes quick.
What’s to get going with the offense? Their big 3 are all averaging over 21PPG and the team has averaged 121 points for the first two games. Offense isn’t the problem.
To that point, if the plan is to just hope to score 140 every night to the opponents 135, the team isn’t making it past the first round.
I agree. He has the offense going. It is actually much more than his big three. Everyone was scoring last night. He needs to get some sort of half court sorted out quickly. He is letting his core gel and learn to play together.
I don’t think Brown has a choice other scoring an insanely high amount to win. He is not dumb. He knows what he has. He needs six players on fire in order to win.
All simply my opinion. One thing the entire world has known for years is that this is an offensive power house. Does not equal wins against good teams though. I don’t think this team is lock for the play in this year let alone anywhere close to a lock for the playoffs.
Then we are in agreement. If you gather a collection of arguably mismatched scorers and leave defense to chance, you are a first round exit at best.
Yeah. But we don’t have mismatched scorers. We disagree there. Mismatched scorers do not score 120 two games in a row.
How do you argue we have a collection of mismatched scorers?
We one hundred percent leave defense to chance and always have.
My personal opinion is Sabonis is best suited surrounded by 3 and D guys. He can operate as the hub of the offense that way. If you pair him with a bunch of mid-range scorers, as the Kings have done with Fox, DDR, and Monk, I feel you are limiting his skillset. To that point, Huerter and Keegan are great compliments to Sabonis’ game.
My hope is Brown can still make things work with DHO and off ball cuts that maximize Sabonis’ game, but I have my doubts.
IMO, the Kings have a bunch of redundancy in ISO scorers with Fox, Monk and DDR. They are all excellent basketball players, but there is a time and place for those roles. Having the 3 of them on the floor at the same time, which is going to happen in crunch time, is limiting offensively with Sabonis. They are gonna win you games, as the legit clutch players that they are, but I don’t see how that translates to the playoffs.
I just feel there needs to be a definitive direction. Either build a team around Domas and his skillset (as Denver has done with Jokic) or go full ISO scorer around Fox and co, much like how the Lakers have done. The Kings are kind of waffling, IMO.
Good conversation. I like what you just said.
I too think that Sabonis can be the hub of an offense. He was the hub of the offense last year. I think he is the one who can run an offense and Fox is the problem in a halfcourt offense. We need to have something other than a flow to win games like last nights game. Fox is a flow player. In my opinion Fox can go and Sabonis with the current line up will be just fine. I like the idea of helping Sabonis down low. Another big can do that. Imagine having another big they have to guard meaning they have to leave Sabonis alone and open every once in a while.
The current line up can win. The emergence of Lyles can be huge but, I don’t know if Lyles has it in him. I hate the ISO game and want nothing to do with it here in Sacramento. Fox is too much ISO as it is and has barely changed with the addition of Sabonis.
The roster has been built around Fox and his speed. The flow is not working at the higher levels of competition. The dribble hand off is not a half court offense. It works situationally but it does not happen often because at the NBA level it is easy to defend. We need some sort of consistent NBA level half court game. Work the high post with Sabonis. Bring Keegan in off the wing as the dunker. It is not super complex. Size will help this. I know Keegan is not small but there are too few bigs on this team.
This team is going nowhere. Even when they start playing well and you know they will the bad Kings will come back and they will get blown out by a bad team at home like last year. This core just doesn’t have it and it’s very hard to get excited about their ceiling which is a 1st or 2nd round exit if everyone hits their peak potential or just fighting for a play in spot and losing.
We needed a GM with balls this offseason to trade Fox and shake up this team and hopefully come out stronger with a new identity, instead we’re going to watch a sad re-run of last year.
A bit off-topic, I wanted to see some action from Orlando Robinson…as I am frustrated to see our player being blocked again and again under the rim…A. Len got blocked by a 40 yrs-old James, and Murray blocked by shorter players in Wolves game…
We need athleticism who can fiinish strong underneath the paint….
Badge Legend